Seksan Ratree: 'Singapore has quality, Thailand must improve in the second leg'

Seksan Ratree, the Man of the Match, acknowledged that although Thailand defeated Singapore 3-1 in the first leg of the ASEAN Cup semifinal, the team still has a lot to accomplish before the rematch at home.

"We are happy to have secured the win, but there were still mistakes. Our goal was to keep a clean sheet, so the whole team will go back to fix that. We set out to win here, and despite the difficulty, we managed to do it.

There is still one more match. Football always has surprises, so we need to prepare well when we return home. Singapore is a quality team; they will certainly make adjustments. Thailand also needs to improve our play for the return leg," Seksan Ratree shared.

In this match, Thailand won 3-1 against Singapore, with a brace from Teerasil Dangda and Seksan Ratree contributing one goal.

Thailand head coach Anthony Hudson said: "I am proud of all the players. As everyone knows, playing away here is a very difficult match, but the players delivered a strong performance. We understood it would be tough to face such a quality opponent, yet the team did well. The plan now is to return to Bangkok, recover properly, and wait for the next match," Hudson stated.

He emphasized: "This is a semifinal, and the most important goal is to win. We had to play away against Singapore, a very difficult team to face. Singapore showed good form against Indonesia and Vietnam, so we absolutely cannot be complacent.

They played to their strengths and did it very well. There was a bit of disappointment when some of our players received heavy tackles. However, credit must be given to the Thai players for defending well, taking advantage of key opportunities, and converting them into goals. Personally, I regret that we could have scored one or two more, but regardless, we got the victory."

The English manager admitted that Thailand could not control the game as expected: "I don't think we could control everything as we wanted when in possession. If you look at what Singapore showed against Vietnam and Indonesia, they really played very well.

Our three goals all came from counterattacks, not from pre-planned scoring methods. That was the result of the flow of the match. So I changed the system, first of all to avoid conceding more goals. When we return to Thailand, the team will continue to improve and correct mistakes to play better in the second leg."

Hudson also warned his players not to be overconfident: "This match was very complicated because the opponent is well-organized and knows how to apply pressure. Our goal was to try to control the ball and the game more, but in football, things don't always go according to plan.

The most important thing is the win, and we achieved it. However, when we return to Bangkok, Thailand cannot yet be relaxed or comfortable. Even though we feel better thanks to the current advantage, we must respect Singapore, prepare thoroughly, and cope better."